Why do all these different TRADITIONS, separated by thousands of years and thousands of miles, agree in positing the ONE and the TWELVE?While a number of excellent books hypothesize (and essentially prove) a highly-advanced prehistoric pan-global civilization (e.g. the seminal work Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha Von Decherd, and the less-organized but still-persuasive Sailing to Paradise: The Discovery of the Americas by 7000 B.C. by Jim Bailey; also John Michell's marvelous books on ancient cosmology and geometry, including The Dimensions of Paradise), I can recall none detailing the actual mechanics of the geometries of consciousness: Why divide the cosmos into twelve? Why not ten?
The common response that twelve is most readily divisible, thus permitting the most flexible calculations, seems to me partial at best. I believe the answer lies in the properties of geometry itself, as explored in Buckminster Fuller's two-volume masterpiece, Synergetics ---- and more specifically, in the properties of what he calls the cuboctahedron, or Vector Equilibrium Matrix ---- essentially, the geometric figure created by radii connecting the centers of thirteen close-packed spheres. I call this cluster of spheres a hypersphere.
The Big Bang, the Divine Laugh: Let's imagine our Self to be Divinity, the Adi or Logoic Realm (Love-Love, the Spirit of Spirit; the Divine Crown): Infinite, Immortal, and Indescribable! However transcendent, we can "sketch" the Logoic in three-dimensional "perspective" by imagining it to be a huge Sphere. The Christians call this realm "God the Father"...Now let's imagine we choose to play with multiplicity ---- we laugh into existence reflections of our Self, imaginable as a multiverse of thirteen spheres indwelling our Logoic Sphere, all the same size, all close-packed; this is the Atmic Realm of Akasha or Space-Bliss (Love-Laughter, the Body of Spirit; the Divine Throat). The Christians call this "God the Mother" or "the Holy Spirit." It is, indeed, the "Whole Spirit;" these thirteen spheres form the boundaries of Spirit.
Now let's imagine we choose to incarnate or indwell one of these spheres, to experience our creation from a localized point of view.....
As we enter the central sphere, we create a realm intermediary between the Logoic (the "Father" or Spiritual Spirit; Spiritual Love) and the Akashic (the "Mother" or Spiritual Bliss, the Spiritual Body; the "Holy Spirit"). We call this intermediary realm the Monadic (Love-Light, the Soul of Spirit; the Divine Brow). The Christians call this realm the Christos, "God the Daughter/Son."
As we become aware of the centeredness of this Self, we look out through the surrounding spheres touching on our own ----- and there are twelve of these! Always, twelve and only twelve spheres can surround and touch a central sphere of the same size ---- making a Hypersphere: a Sphere of thirteen spheres; a cluster, tribe or coven. These peripheral Atmic twelve may be seen as "Apostles" (from the Greek: "sent away"; emanations) or as "Radii" or "Rays" of the central sphere.
Like the VEDIC SEERS, we, the absolute emptifulness of the central sphere's all/no color White/Black (ADITI, the Royal), might distinguish these twelve peripheral spheres by assigning a different color and psychological dimension to each:Yellow (VISHNU or BRAHMA, the Imaginer)
Yellow-Green (SHAKRA, the Chanter)
Green (SAVITRI, the Priest)
Green-Blue (VIVASWAT, the Fowler)
Blue (PARJANYA, PUSHAN, or INDRA, the Planter)
Blue-Violet (TWASHTRI, the Mason)
Violet (BHAGA, the Smith)
Violet-Red (MITRA, the Forester)
Red (ARYAMAN or RUDRA, the Hunter)
Red-Orange (AMSA, the Diviner)
Orange (VARUNA, the Mage)
Orange-Yellow (DAKSA or PRAIAPATI, the Scholar)
(These psychological dimensions are my terms; for a beautiful explication of the social structure of the twelve Adityas as it is conventionally understood today, see Alain Danielou's master-work, The Gods of India.)
(For a brilliant investigation of the psychological aspects of the twelve Archetypes, see Carol S. Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World ---- her Creator is my Imaginer; her Innocent is my Chanter; her Caregiver is my Priest; her Seeker is my Fowler; her Ruler is my Planter; her Fool or Trickster is my Mason; her Destroyer is my Smith; her Orphan is my Forester; her Warrior is my Hunter; her Lover is my Diviner; our Mages are equivalent; her Sage is my Scholar.)
The hypersphere of twelve peripheral colors is perhaps most easily imagined as a bottom or "south polar" triad of the Red, Yellow, and Blue spheres opposite a top or "north polar" triad of the Orange, Green, and Violet spheres; with an "equatorial" hexad of Red-Orange, Orange-Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green-Blue, Blue-Violet, and Violet-Red spheres: all linkable in sequence by a "World-Serpent" pattern zig-zagging diagonally up and down around the "equator."
When viewed from above, the whole readily flattens into a two-dimensional color-wheel, or zodiac ecliptic...
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And like the Chaldean ASTROLOGERS, we might assign these twelve colors to the twelve "planets", the directions, the stations of the day, and the twelve months of the year.
Thus, the first quarter from South/Noon/Summer Solstice:
Yellow: SUN in LEO (Imaginer)
Yellow-Green: ISIS/SOUTH NODE in VIRGO (Enchantress)
Green: VENUS in LIBRA (Priest)The second quarter from West/Dusk/Autumn Equinox:
Green-Blue: NEPTUNE in SCORPIO (Seeker or Fowler)
Blue: BACCHUS/ASTEROIDS in SAGITTARIUS (Planter)
Blue-Violet: SATURN in CAPRICORN (Mason)The third quarter from North/Midnight/Winter Solstice:
Violet: JUPITER in AQUARIUS (Smith)
Violet-Red: URANUS in PISCES (Forester)
Red: MARS in ARIES (Warrior or Hunter)And the fourth quarter from East/Dawn/Spring Equinox:
Red-Orange: PROSERPINA/NORTH NODE in TAURUS (Diviner)
Orange: MERCURY in GEMINI (Mage)
Orange-Yellow: "MOON" in CANCER (Scholar)...and back to South/Noon/Summer Solstice.
The center realm, again, is White and Black: EARTH and PLUTO (Ruler), and would oversee the Grand Cross of the Equinoxes and Sostices themselves.
Please note that this System positions the Spring Equinox at 0 degrees TAURUS, and the Summer Solstice at 0 degrees LEO. Note also that it differs from "traditional" systems in the rulerships of many of the planets; this system restores the Primordial position of Bacchus/Asteroids, allowing for a perfect double helix of descending "male" planets and ascending "female" planets in their correct astronomical order.
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Now, any given sphere both touches twelve peripheral spheres of its own size, and also embodies within itself a cluster of thirteen smaller spheres; so any cluster of thirteen spheres can also be a cluster of clusters: thirteen Hyperspheres of thirteen spheres each.
Thus, (moving outward) our central cluster touches twelve more clusters or tribes, or (moving inward) our central cluster embraces within itself thirteen smaller clusters. Moving in either direction, we arrive at the same pattern: a Hypersphere of Hyperspheres. We may call the two new dimensions the Causal --- the peripheral spheres of the peripheral clusters touching on our Demiurges, moving outward, or residing within our Demiurges, moving inward; and the Buddhic --- the central spheres of those peripheral clusters.
Like the JUDEO-CHRISTIANS, we can enumerate this celestial pattern as one center of centers, the YHWH or Monadic I AM presence, surrounded by twelve Atmic peripheral member-spheres of the central cluster, and by twelve Buddhic central member-spheres of each of the peripheral clusters, comprising our twenty-four "elders."
We also now have twelve peripheral members in each of the twelve peripheral clusters, totalling 144 Causal members in the twelve tribes ---- numbers familiar from the Book of Revelations: We may carry out the subdivision of any given sphere into a cluster of thirteen component-spheres ad infinitum ---- thus the 144,"000" of Revelations; the number 1000 was used to symbolize any indefinitely large number.
The twelve tribes of YHWH may be seen as the twelve peripheral hyperspheres, themselves extensions or outfoldings of the twelve Sons of Abraham, who might be either the Buddhic central spheres of each of the twelve peripheral clusters, or the twelve Atmic peripheral spheres of the central cluster. At any rate, they are easily equated with the twelve colors, the twelve Astrological signs, and their associated psychological functions:
Yellow, Leo: JUDAH --- the lion
Yellow-Green, Virgo: ZEBULON --- the harbormaster
Green, Libra: ISSACHAR --- the donkey and saddle-bags
Green-Blue, Scorpio: DAN --- the serpent
Blue, Sagittarius: GAD --- the warrior-troop
Blue-Violet, Capricorn: ASHER --- the royal baker
Violet, Aquarius: NAPHTALI --- the wild deer
Violet-Red, Pisces: JOSEPH --- the fruitful bough by a well
Red, Aries: REUBEN --- the firstborn
Red-Orange, Taurus: SIMEON --- the angry swordsman
Orange, Gemini: LEVI --- the scattered one
Orange-Yellow, Cancer: BENJAMIN --- the ravenous wolf(For a more detailed explanation of this system, see David A. Womack's 12 Signs, 12 Sons: Astrology in the Bible. It is also entirely possible that this system originated ca 2000 B.C. and began at spring equinox with Taurus, thus making Reuben, firstborn, a Taurus. Simeon, angry swordsman, must then have been Aries; these two positions would have been switched later to "update" and align with the precessed equinox in Aries.)
Similarly, As CHRIST plays the central part of YHWH in Christianity, the 12 Disciples take the peripheral positions of the 12 Tribes. While there is not enough documentary evidence remaining to positively assign the Disciples to their specific colors and zodiac signs, we might tentatively posit the following arrangement, based upon the primordial sounds in their original names:
Yellow, Leo: BARTHOLOMEW (and Evangelist MARK)
Yellow-Green, Virgo: ALPHAEUS
Green, Libra: JUDE
Green-Blue, Scorpio: THOMAS
(and Evangelist JOHN) Blue, Sagittarius: ANDREW
Blue-Violet, Capricorn: PETER (or JAMES)
Violet, Aquarius: JAMES (or PETER) (and Evangelist LUKE)
Violet-Red, Pisces: JOHN
Red, Aries: JUDAS
Red-Orange, Taurus: MATTHEW (Disciple and Evangelist) Orange, Gemini: SIMON
Orange-Yellow, Cancer: PHILIPUsing this arrangement, we can connect the pairs of Apostles in the order given in Luke 6:14-16 to yield an ancient Christian symbol: First draw the vertical Solstice-line (between Cancer and Leo at the top, and Capricorn and Aquarius at bottom), which is anchored at the bottom in the arc formed on one side by Peter and Andrew (Capricorn and Sagittarius), and on the other by James and John (Aquarius and Pisces). This yields a mast and a boat. Next, connect Philip and Batholomew (Cancer and Leo) to make a cross spar at the top of the solstice-mast; then Matthew and Thomas (Taurus and Scorpio) to make a diagonal crossing through the middle of the mast, then James, son of Alphaeus and Simon (Virgo and Gemini) to make a second cross spar between the first and the diagonal, and finally Jude and Judas (Libra and Aries) to complete the diagonal "X" through the middle. Thus the whole may symbolize either a ship, or the roots and branches of the World Tree -- both appropriate symbols for the Christian Age of Pisces, the Fish; and of the Demiurgic Forester or Carpenter.
This brings us to another point --- that we may also see each of the twelve Atmic Demiurges as itself an Avatar and ruler of its given Astrological Age; thus we might see the Christos I-AM Monad manifesting as the Atmic Spiritual Warrior Melchizadek to master the Buddhic World Dragon for the Age of Aries (ca. 2320 -- 160 BCE), as the Atmic Spiritual Forester Jesus (YHShWH) to master the Buddhic World Tree for the Age of Pisces (ca. 160 BCE -- 2000 CE), and as an Atmic Spiritual Smith or Alchemist to master the Buddhic World Grail for the coming Age of Aquarius (ca. 2000 -- 4160 CE). This Aquarian Christ-who-is-to-come --- the successor of the Historical YHShWH (mystically John, or Ioshenu) -- is (according to the Jewish Christians) James/Jacob, or (according to the Pauline Christians) Peter. Almost certainly, Peter ("the Rock") was originally the Capricornian Mason, and James was the Aquarian Smith/Alchemist.
At any rate, the Buddhic Dragon (Zadochiel) embodies the World-Soul current surrounding the Earth; the Buddhic Tree (Shaishunael) sinks twelve World-Soul branches or radii (or Wells) deep into the Earth, and the Buddhic Grail (Gabriel) is the World-Soul core or Heart of the Earth, the nexus point of all twelve radii. The Aquarian Christ will complete the Manifestation or descent of the "Heavenly Realms" via the twelve Wells or Gates or Branches into the heart of the World. But we anticipate; we will speak more of the twelve Buddhic Archangels in the next chapter.
Like the twelve Adityas, the twelve Zodiac Signs, and the twelve Sons of Abraham, the twelve Disciples originally symbolized the basic psychological and social types of humanity; indeed, they too are the Inner Archetypes within us. They are essentially twelve Atmic Demiurges that serve our Inner Christ, the Monad or Royal Self, by recognizing and sorting our experiences, thus shaping our individual world. In short, like the twelve gates of our celestial city or personal Temple, they are our windows of perception and our doorways of action.
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The GREEKS were true masters of psychology; their mythologies hold untold depths of psychological insights. Unfortunately, again, the original insights have sometimes been submerged in tribal politics. We tentatively offer the following original pantheon:
Yellow, Leo: APOLLO --- the Imaginer or Creator
Yellow-Green, Virgo: DEMETER --- the Enchantress
Green, Libra: ZEUS --- the Caregiver or Priest
Green-Blue, Scorpio: HESTIA --- the Seeker or Fowler
Blue, Sagittarius: DIONYSOS --- the Planter
Blue-Violet, Capricorn: ATHENE --- the Mason
Violet, Aquarius: HEPHAESTOS --- the Smith
Violet-Red, Pisces: HERA --- the Forester
Red, Aries: ARES --- the Warrior
Red-Orange, Taurus: APHRODITE--- the Lover or Diviner
Orange, Gemini: HERMES --- the Mage
Orange-Yellow, Cancer: ARTEMIS --- the Sage or Scholar.As the centermost sphere, we might call our own true Nature the Inner (White) King or (Black) Queen; the Transcendental Unknown God; this position was later ascribed to ZEUS and HERA.
(For very insightful work in the psycholgy of the Greek Archetypes, see Jean Shinoda Bolen's Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women and Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men's Lives & Loves.)
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And as in WITCHCRAFT, we are our own High Priest or High Priestess, and we lead an inner coven of twelve magical specialists continually interacting with the peripheral clusters, the beings on more objective ("outer") layers of reality, to create our world. This grand cluster, thirteen clusters of thirteen spheres each, is what the Witches call the Grand Coven, a coven of covens.
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And who are these beings with whom our twelve Spiritual peripheral specialists or Atmic Demiurges interact? As the twelve peripheral members of our central cluster or Spiritual Monad, the Atmic Demiurges closely interact with the twelve central members of our twelve peripheral or Soul clusters, whom we might call the twelve Buddhic Archangels of our 144 peripheral Causal or Solar Angels.
Generally, we might distinguish these four degrees ---- our central I AM presence (Monad; Spirit-Light; Divine Brow), our twelve Demiurges (Atmic; Spirit-Laughter; Divine Throat), our twelve Archangels (Buddhic; Soul-Love; Divine Heart), and our 144 Solar Angels (Causal; Soul-Light; Divine Solar Plexus) ---- as four pilings upholding the bridge between our world of Transcendent (Logoic) subjective reality and our world of Immanent (Mental) objective reality.
© 1997 rorygoff@hotmail.com
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